01/06/2023
Today is Lü Dongbin’s 呂洞賓 Birthday
Who is Lu Dongbin?
Lu Dongbin, also known as Lu Yan, is one of the most famous figures in Daoist mythology, particularly among the "Eight Immortals", a group of legendary beings in Chinese culture. He is traditionally depicted as a scholar, a poet, and a fervent Daoist adept.
Lu Dongbin is known for his spiritual enlightenment, symbolized by his ability to pass the "Ten Trials of the Heart", a series of tests set by the Immortal Zhongli Quan to examine his purity, resolve, and wisdom. After succeeding, Lu Dongbin was said to have achieved immortality and became a significant figure in Daoist teachings.
Lu Dongbin and Qigong Practice
In terms of Qigong, Lu Dongbin's relevance is rooted in Daoist practices, as Qigong is essentially a system of exercises that integrates body, breath, and mind to cultivate and balance one's vital energy or "Qi".
Lu Dongbin is often associated with Inner Alchemy (Neidan), a Daoist practice focused on the internal cultivation of spiritual and physical health, which has substantial overlap with Qigong. Inner Alchemy aims to transmute the base, physical energies of the body (referred to as "jing") into more refined spiritual energy (or "Qi"), and finally into "shen" or spirit. This process aligns closely with Qigong's emphasis on the circulation and balance of Qi.
One of the key texts attributed to Lu Dongbin is the "Hundred Character Tablet" (Bai Zi Bei), a concise but dense poem that outlines the principles of Neidan. While not a Qigong manual per se, the principles of internal energy cultivation presented in this poem resonate with many Qigong practices.
